Electric riveting apparatus



(No Model.)

B. E. RIBS.

ELECTRIC RIVETING APPARATUS.

No. 403,374. Patented May 14, 1889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT ()EEIcE.

ELIAS E. RIES, OE BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

ELECTRIC RIVETING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 403,374, dated May 14,1889.

Original application filed September 15, 1888, Serial No. 285.555.Divided and this application filed March 5 1889. Serial No. 301,914. (Nomodel.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ELIAS E. RIEs, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Electric Riveting Apparatus, of which thefollowing is a specification. I

My invention has reference to machines or apparatus for riveting by theaid of electricity in the manner set forth in my application, Serial No.285,555, filed September 15,1888, of which this is a division, andclaimed in my application, Serial N 0. 293,069, filed December 10, 1888,which is also a division of my aforesaid application; and the object ofmy present invention is to provide the practical means by which theelectrical riveting process can be practiced with ease and comfort.

Prior to my invention the riveting process has been practiced either bythe aid of ordinary anvils and handtools or by the aid of organizedmachines, and in both cases the rivet was inserted into the rivet holeor holes either in a cold state, or it was first heated in a furnace orotherwise, and was then, after .insertion into the hole, headed by arapid succession of blows upon the free end of its shank.

By the use of the instrumentalities which form the subject of my presentinvention the old process is entirely changed, and the inconveniencesand imperfections of the same are overcome, as clearly set forth in myaforesaid applications.

Broadly speaking, my invention consists of an anvil and a heading-toolconstituting the terminals of an electric circuit, which are bridged bythe rivet itself during the operation. This rivet thereby becomes heatedto any desired degree, which is controlled by any of the well-knowncurrent-regulators, so that the rivet is made plastic and may bemaintained in that condition during the whole process of heading orduring any part of the same, at the option of the operator.

My invention may assume a great variety of forms, and while I have shownone organized machine embodying my invention, parts of which may also beused as electric hand riveting-tools, I am by no means confined to theidentical structures shown. All this will more fully appear from thefollowing detailed description, with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure l is an elevation of an electricriveting-machine embodying my invention, with the primary source ofelectricity shown in a conventional form and with some of thecircuit-connections indicated in diagram; and Fig. 2, a detail view,upon an enlarged scale, of the anvil and heading-tool, showing theinsulation of the former from its support.

Like numerals of reference indicate like parts in the two figures ofdrawings.

The frame 1 of the riveting-machine has three parallel projectingbrackets, 2 3 4, the lowest one, 2, supporting the anvil 5, the middlebracket, 3, serving as a guide for the reciprocating die 6, and theupper bracket, 4:, having one of the links of a toggle, 7, pivoted toit. The other link of this toggle is pivoted to the reciprocating die 6,and the toggle is actuated by a piston-rod, 8, of a piston working inthe cylinder 11, to which steam or compressed air is supplied by thepipe 12. The admission of steam to the cylinder is controlled andregulated by the valve 13, actuated by the valve-rod 1%, having asuitable handle, 15, within convenient reach of the operator.

The riveting-machine so far described is of ordinary construction, andits operation is well understood by those skilled in the art. The valve13 is of a kind commonly used in such machines, which when turned to oneposition admits steam behind the piston, which then actuates the toggleto raise the die 6, and when turned to another position admits steam infront of the piston, which then actuates the toggle to depress the die6.

For the purposes of my invention the anvil 5 is preferably, although notnecessarily, formed with a massive head, as shown in Fig. 2, and with ashank, 16, which passes through the bracket 2. This shank isscrew-threaded at its lower end, and the anvil is clamped to the bracketby a nut formed in a bindingpost, 17, which is screwed upon theprojecting end of the shank 10.

The whole anvil is insulated from the frame of the machine by aninsulating-brushing, 18, of suitable material, as shown in Fig. 2. Theupper part of the anvil is preferably formed into a truncated cone, 19,and in the upper face is formed a cavity, as shown, for the reception ofone end of the rivet 20, which, when placed in position, may or may nothave a head formed at this end.

The construction of the anvil so far described is bysno means essential,since the same may be replaced by any ordinary anvil of any desiredsize, so long as it has one or more rivet-receiving cavities formed onits upper'face; but if such ordinary anvil be used it will be understoodthat the same must be insulated-as, for instance, by placing it upon ablock of Wood, like any other stationary anviland it will be providedwith suitable means for connection with an electrical conductor, 23. I a

The die 6, as shown, is a cylindrical body with a frusto-conical lowerend, 21, provided on its lower face with a cavity to receive the freeend of the rivet. This cavity is preferably conical, but may be of anyother shape to correspond to the desired form of rivethead. The body ofthe die is formed into a binding-post having the clamp-screw 22, andthis binding-post receives a conductor, 24, as shown.

The two conductors 23 24 lead to the terminals of a suitable generator,which furnishes a current of great quantity and low tension.

It will now be understood that the current coming from the generatorwill pass by the conductor 24 through die and rivet and then through theanvil back to the generator. The rivet offers a resistance to thepassage of the current and becomes heated thereby, according to thecurrent employed, to any degree of incandescence, and this heating maybe continued so long as the heading-die remains in contact with therivet, so that the latter may be maintained in a soft plastic conditionuntil the riveting process is completed and the heading-die removed.

Any suitable source of electrical current, including the directlow-tension current of a dynamo or of a secondary battery, may be used;but by preference I use the alternating currents of low tension andgreat quantity furnished by the thick-wire secondary coil 25 of atransformer, 26, the fine-wire primary coil 27 of which is charged byalternating currents of high tension and small quantity by the circuit28 28, derived from a main circuit, 29 29, which in turn is charged byan alternating-current dynamo, 30.

The conductor 23 includes a switch-lever, 31, which maybe moved by handto make contact with'any one of a series of contact-plates, 32,connected, respectively, to difierent points of the secondary coil; andit will now be understood that all or a part of the secondary coil maybe placed in circuit with the conductors 23 24, leading to the anvil andhead- 'candescence.

rivet.

ing-die, and thus the current regulated or entirely cut off, as desired;or, in place of regulating the current by the switch, this may be doneby moving the core 26' of the transformer within the coils; or I may useany other suitable means of controlling the current.

The whole operation will now be readily understood. A rivet is placedwith its head (if there is a head) or with the head end upon the anvilin the cavity provided for this purpose, and the plates 33 34, to bejoined by the rivets are placed with the rivet-holes over the shank ofthe rivet, one above the other. The operator now manipulates thevalve-rod 14 to open the valve 13 more or less to admit steam to thecylinder in front of the piston to actuate the toggle and depress thedie until in contact with the rivet. The switch-lever is then operatedto closethe circuit and is moved until suflicient current is obtained tobring the rivet to the desired state of in- More steam is then admittedto the cylinder behind the piston and the heading-die-is forcibly moveddownward upon the projecting end of the rivetshank and the latter headedby a single stroke; or, if it should be found necessary, this operationmay be repeated a number of times upon the same During all this time theoperator can regulate the 'incandescence of the rivet to a nicety bysuitable manipulation of the switchlever or of the movable core of thetransformer. The element of construction marked in Fig. 2 with thenumeral 2 need not be a bracket forming part of the frame of ariveting-machine, but may be any suitable support for the anvil 5; orthe latter maybe used without a specially-constructed support. It may beheld by an assistant against the head of the rivet after the latter hasbeen inserted into the rivet-hole. Similarly, the headingdie need not beactuated by a toggle, which in turn is actuated by steam or compressedair or other machine power, for it may be used like an ordinaryblacksmiths heading-dieas a hand-toolwhich is grasped by one hand andplaced with the die-cavity over the end of the rivetrshank, while theupper end of the die is struck with a hammer, as is well understood bythose skilled in the art. In this case, however, the conductors 23 24must be quite flexible, as will be readily understood; but owing to theVery low tension of the currents which are employed neither the anvilnor the heading-die need be insulated with special care. The mostprimitive insulating means will be sufficient.

In case of heavy work, it is not absolutely necessary that the rivetshould be inserted when in a cold state; but it may first be heated inthe ordinary manner in the furnace, then inserted into the rivet-hole,and the heat lost by radiation or conduction may then be suppliedelectrically in the manner hereinbefore.

described.

In the foregoing I have employed the terms anvil and 11eading-tool asdescriptive of the means for upsetting the rivet, and I desire it to beunderstood that all means for eX- erting endwise pressure upon the rivetor rivet-blank are covered by these terms.

Having now fully described my invention, I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent- 1.. An electric riveting apparatus consisting,essentially, of a metallic anvil and a metallic heading-tool, and acharged electric circuit including the anvil and tool, substantially asdescribed.

2. An electric riveting apparatus consist ing, essentially, of ametallic anvil, a metallic heading-tool, an electric generator, andconductors leading from the generator and terminating in the anvil andtool, respectively, substantially as described.

An electric riveting apparatus consisting, essentially, of a relativelystationary metallic anvil, a reciprocating metallic headingtool, and acharged electric circuit including the said anvil and tool,substantially as described.

4. An electric riveting apparatus consisting of an insulated andrelatively stationary metallic anvil, a reciprocating metallicheading-tool, an electric generator, and conductors leading from thelatter to the anvil and heading-tool, respectively, substantially asdescribed.

5. An electric riveting apparatus consisting of an insulated metallicanvil, a metallic heading-tool, an electric generator, conductorsleading from the generator to the anvil and heading-tool, and acurrent-regulator, substantially as described.

6. A riveting apparatus consisting, essentially, of an anvil and aheading-tool, constituting the terminals of an electric circuit, whichterminals are adapted to be bridged by a metallic rivet, substantiallyas described.

7. The combination, with the terminals of a charged electric circuitadapted to pass a heating-current through and exert endwise pressureupon a rivet or rivet-blank, of a current-regulator for controlling theheat of the rivet while under such pressure, substan tially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

ELIAS E. RIES.

Witnesses:

E. H. PILSBURY, A. H. HENDERSON.

